After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators is a music education podcast from Amro Music Stores, Inc. Our After Hours podcast host, Nick Averwater, facilitates engaging conversations each week with band directors, private music teachers, general music educators, orchestra directors, and other music industry professionals just like you. Each podcast guest shares practical advice on things like classroom management in your band program, placing beginners on instruments, band and orchestra…
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There Was No Band Program For 20 Years. Then This Educator Restarted It.
This week Nick Averwater talks with Jacob Abbott, Performing Arts Director at Dresden High School in Dresden, TN , which is a town of around 3,000 people in Northwest Tennessee, and is just over 100 miles from both Memphis and Nashville. Jacob has been named to the 2025 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of music educators, and in this conversation he'll tell us about restarting the school's band program…
Creating a Successful Band Experience for Students With Differences And Disabilities
This week Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Alice Hammel , a music educator who has dedicated her 40-year career to making music programs more supportive, productive, and enjoyable for students with differences and disabilities. Dr. Hammel has written four books about this subject, and we have links to them below. Our conversation was recorded in February 2025. Dr. Hammel's books include: Teaching…
When Two Marching Bands In The Same Small City Compete At The State-Champion Level
This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Kim Webb, High School Band Director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, Arkansas. Paragould is a city of around 30,000 people located 65 miles northwest of Memphis. In 2024 The Greene County Tech marching band won the state championship in Class 5A. In the last episode, Kim told us about building and maintaining a culture of success in the…
Winning A State Championship With The Motto, "Belong, Believe, Become"
This week Nick Averwater talks with Kim Webb, High School Band Director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, Arkansas. Paragould is a city of around 30,000 people located 65 miles northwest of Memphis. In 2024 The Greene County Tech marching band won the state championship in Class 5A. In this episode we'll learn about the ways that the band program has grown under Kim's leadership, and how the…
More Ideas For A Successful Instrument Rental Meeting
In this episode Nick Averwater continues his conversation with John Easley, Middle Tennessee Educational Representative for Amro Music, and Andrew Demolat , Band Director at Rockvale Middle School, which is part of the Rutherford County School District, located southeast of Nashville. They're discussing the importance of having a successful instrument rental meeting Our conversation was recorded…
A Successful Instrument Rental Meeting Makes Things Easy For Students, And Parents
This week we're talking about how to make the most of the instrument rental meeting as Nick Averwater talks with John Easley, Middle Tennessee Educational Representative for Amro Music, and Andrew Demolat , Band Director at Rockvale Middle School, which is part of the Rutherford County School District. It's the fourth largest district in Tennessee with over 52,000 students, and is located…
Creating Excitement During The Instrument Placement Process
We're posting this on Thursday, July 17, 2025, and it's the fourth in a series of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll also have new episodes in this back to school series next Monday and Thursday, July 21st and 24th. This week we're discussing placing beginner band students with the right instrument as Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Sloane…
Determining Which Instrument Works Best For Each Student
We're posting this on Monday, July 14, 2025. It's the third in a series of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll have new episodes in this back to school series this Thursday, July 17th, as well as next Monday and Thursday, July 21st and 24th. This week we're discussing placing beginner students with the right instrument as Nick Averwater talks with Sloane…
The Instrument Rental Meeting Is Almost Here. Here's How To Prepare For It.
We're posting this on Thursday, July 10, 2025, and it's the second of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll have new episodes Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, so we hope you'll keep an eye out for those conversations on July 14th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. On the 14th and 17th we'll be discussing instrument placement, and the following week we'll look at…
Keeping Beginning Band Students Engaged Before They Get Their Instruments
This week we kick off a series of six episodes designed to get you ready for the upcoming school year. We're posting this episode on Monday, July 7, 2025, and we'll have new episodes this Thursday, July 10th, as well as on Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, so that will be July 14th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. The episodes that post on the 14th and 17th will be all about instrument placement,…